It's an election year in the United States, and that means that it's time to start polling for opinions across the country. If the country goes the path of MapleStory, the incumbent President has nothing to worry about. A survey of 1,655 random MapleStory players was conducted this past weekend, with 47.79% claiming that Barack Obama had made the most positive impact out of the current candidates. The runner-up? Abject confusion. More than 20% of respondents did not recognize any of the names involved.
The respondents were also polled on the most important issue facing the presidential candidates, with unemployment taking the top spot (40%) and the gap between rich and poor taking second place (28%). It's not necessarily indicative of much, but even though it's an informal poll conducted by Nexon America of a fairly random playerbase, there's a staggering degree of confusion at work. Or MapleStory players really like President Obama, one or the other.
Reader Comments (30)
Posted: Mar 27th 2012 9:09PM Borick said
Ugh. This is muckraking.
Posted: Mar 28th 2012 1:59AM The Moonshadow said
@Borick
Muckracking isn't as bad as it sounds, trying to get an idea of what more or less a-political people feel about current political issues or politicians does serve a purpose. Unfortunately the results of modern muckracking tend to be similar to this; a-political people aren't all that aware of current political issues or politicians...
Well, considering the current narrative of US politics including the extreme polarization, sensationalist 24hr news cycle and more of less devolving what should be a mature discussion into a glorified source of entertainment I'd say its not all bad; sometimes ignorance is bliss.
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Muckracking isn't as bad as it sounds, trying to get an idea of what more or less a-political people feel about current political issues or politicians does serve a purpose. Unfortunately the results of modern muckracking tend to be similar to this; a-political people aren't all that aware of current political issues or politicians...
Well, considering the current narrative of US politics including the extreme polarization, sensationalist 24hr news cycle and more of less devolving what should be a mature discussion into a glorified source of entertainment I'd say its not all bad; sometimes ignorance is bliss.
Posted: Mar 27th 2012 9:20PM Fakeassname said
wait, what ....
Posted: Mar 27th 2012 9:24PM Shadanwolf said
Why would a business be stupid enough to alienate some part it's player base..getting into politics ?
It would seem some at Maplestory feel compelled to inject their views into US politics, and don't care who they alienate.
It would seem some at Maplestory feel compelled to inject their views into US politics, and don't care who they alienate.
Posted: Mar 27th 2012 9:52PM Picklesnickles said
@Shadanwolf What part of their survey includes "injectingtheir views" into anything? While I am confused why they did a survey of their players at all, the survey itself doesn't appear at first glance to be biased towards anyone or anything in particular.
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Posted: Mar 28th 2012 10:07AM epilepticemu said
@Shadanwolf Did you even read the story before commenting?
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Posted: Mar 28th 2012 10:15AM (Unverified) said
@Gaugamela
English is my second language, thus I tend to make numerous spelling and grammatical errors. So I don't normally call people out on their typing ability as long as I know what it is that they're trying to get across. With you however I must note that I have no idea whether you're trying to say, much less if you're actually that stupid or just trolling.
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English is my second language, thus I tend to make numerous spelling and grammatical errors. So I don't normally call people out on their typing ability as long as I know what it is that they're trying to get across. With you however I must note that I have no idea whether you're trying to say, much less if you're actually that stupid or just trolling.
Posted: Mar 28th 2012 11:09AM Gaugamela said
@(Unverified)
Since there's no edit button and I wrote that before my brain was functioning ( no coffee) here's the corrected version:
So because the poll shows that people playing Maple Story prefer Obama that injects this company's view into politics? Last time I heard players of a game don't define the politics of the game developer.
Oh, never mind. You must be using conservative "logic".
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Since there's no edit button and I wrote that before my brain was functioning ( no coffee) here's the corrected version:
So because the poll shows that people playing Maple Story prefer Obama that injects this company's view into politics? Last time I heard players of a game don't define the politics of the game developer.
Oh, never mind. You must be using conservative "logic".
Posted: Mar 27th 2012 9:35PM Celtar said
Hmm, since they are polling children and teenagers by and large, I tend to doubt the survey was worth the time it took to even gather the info. What info there was I should say. Basically this is a non-story story. Waste of band with to even bother to write up Eliot or to talk about.
Posted: Mar 28th 2012 4:56AM Fabius Bile said
@Celtar
you would be amazed (and probably embarrased too) if you knew how many "supposed" adults play maplestory...
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you would be amazed (and probably embarrased too) if you knew how many "supposed" adults play maplestory...
Posted: Mar 28th 2012 9:52AM (Unverified) said
@Fabius Bile Hey now, I like to think of my self as a decent adult, but I think maplestory cute. I tried playing it for a while, but I felt too creepy since the majority of players were kids/teens. I almost wish they had 'adult' servers for older players, not 'adult' topics, I'd just rather play with people closer to my own age than 12 year olds, it makes me feel out of place and creepy.
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Posted: Mar 27th 2012 9:59PM oxlar said
I think just about everyone involved in this story, especially the company, has their heads subplanted into their oval orafice. Pathetic on all levels.
Posted: Mar 27th 2012 10:25PM toychristopher said
Maybe they just ran out of interesting things to poll about? Or maybe some political PR firm paid for the poll?
How strange...
How strange...
Posted: Mar 27th 2012 10:33PM Sorithal said
Well, this speaks greatly of the Maplestory community.
And by that I mean I feel glad that I'm not on a game that's apparently swarming with idiocy.
And by that I mean I feel glad that I'm not on a game that's apparently swarming with idiocy.
Posted: Mar 28th 2012 8:26AM Joaquin Crowe said
@Sorithal I'm sure there will eventually be a Fox Limbaugh MMO eventually where you can tazer protestors to death, privatize government for the benefit of corporations and pave over the environment with industrial waste to your heart's content.
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Posted: Mar 27th 2012 11:38PM slash beast said
Yuck. I don't think I could stomach playing a game with a bunch of obama heads.
Posted: Mar 27th 2012 11:48PM Ryn said
Obama Heads are annoying enough, let alone in your game, your only escape from the outright takeover of your life by the administration and this useful Idiot.
Any company that wants to tell me how I should think politically will lose my business. The list is growing daily. Companies should do themselves a favor and remain neutral. Its better for their bottom line. There is case after case of this. They really need to get a clue.
Any company that wants to tell me how I should think politically will lose my business. The list is growing daily. Companies should do themselves a favor and remain neutral. Its better for their bottom line. There is case after case of this. They really need to get a clue.


